Housing plan with open space proviso advances

Friday

Sep 28, 2007 at 12:01 AM

The Woods Edge II preliminary major subdivision plan and planning module were unanimously approved by the Middle Smithfield Township supervisors even though the supervisors wouldn't commit to accept some of the developer's plan.

LAUREL BISHOW

The Woods Edge II preliminary major subdivision plan and planning module were unanimously approved by the Middle Smithfield Township supervisors even though the supervisors wouldn't commit to accept some of the developer's plan.

The developer wants the township to maintain the open space, the retention basins, and possibly a road.

Woods Edge II is located on 69 acres off of Coolbaugh Drive, four and a half miles from Route 402. It will consist of 39 single-family homes on half-acre lots. Of the 69 acres, 42 acres will be open space. Nineteen of those 42 acres are wetlands. Backup drainage fields will be located in the open space area. As part of the project, improvements will be made to Coolbaugh Drive to improve sight distances.

Woods Edge II will be the first Conservation Design project in the township.

The developer would like the township to take over the open space area and, with some money provided by the homeowners, maintain the retention basins. This surprised township engineer Fred Courtright and resident Gary Summers who said no mention was made at the Planning Commission meeting when this project was presented of the township being responsible for these items.

"I never heard of this before," protested Summers. "Would the planning board have approved the plan if they had heard about this?"

"I think they would have strong feelings about it," replied Courtright.

Minutes from that meeting state, "The residual land becomes open space with the intent to be maintained by a property owners association." Resident Al Decker noted that if the township took over the land, it would no longer generate tax revenue for the township.

Township planner Kevin Kochanski said that the supervisors were under no obligation to take over open space, retention basins or roads just because the developer wanted it. Supervisor Scott Schaller said he would like to keep his options open and the supervisors would decide in the future.

IN OTHER NEWS, Summers presented the supervisors with an alternative to funding the fire department by imposing a cable franchise fee. Summers believes that it would be unfair for cable users to fund a service that benefits everyone. He suggested that a better solution would be to raise everyone's taxes by 1.4 mills. A tax increase would also turn out to be cheaper for cable users that a franchise fee.

The supervisors and township attorneys will meet with Toll Brothers and Big Ridge in mid-October to discuss possible violations at Country Club of the Poconos. This meeting will not be open to the public.

The approval of the minutes from the Sept. 13 supervisors meeting were tabled when resident Bob Pohlman challenged the accuracy of one of the statements. The contested statement is regarding the Toll Brothers discussions for Country Club of the Poconos.

The minutes say that township solicitor Jennifer Wise "advised that the guiding legal position may impact people differently." Pohlman said he remembers her saying that there would be no impact on homeowners. The supervisors will look into the conflict further.

There will be a public hearing for a senior housing ordinance on Dec. 11 at 10 a.m.

The supervisors have changed the date and time of some of their meetings. The Nov. 8 meeting has been rescheduled to Nov. 13 at 10. a.m. The Nov. 27 meeting has been moved to Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

MOTIONS PASSED unanimously:

The township will keep two copies of all transcripts from public hearings. Anyone can come to the township building to read the transcripts. Personal copies of transcripts are available only from the stenographer for a fee. Township planner Kevin Kochanski will forward the phase 1 study on bog turtle habitat at Echo Lake Park to the secretary. The study is a required part of getting the necessary permits to work on the park. HaRa Corp's minor subdivision of a parcel at Fernwood into two smaller lots was approved. The lot is located on the far side of the golf course and abuts Park Service land. The sewage planning modules for three subdivisions were approved. The modules were for the Josephine Squires estate, Oritz and Spano, and Andrew Daros. The plans will be forwarded to the Department of Environmental Protection for review and approval. Margaret Coon, a vendor for A Day in the Park, will receive a refund of the $15 vendor fee. Due to a car accident, she was unable to make the event.